Digital noise overloads everyone.
Revenue operations (RevOps) teams are not just overloaded. They are swamped by:
- Stakeholders: Marketing, sales, and customer success leaders need RevOps to keep the machine running and execute on their critical projects.
- The foundation: RevOps always knows the “tech debt” we have accumulated and has a list of projects we want to accomplish to create the foundation to move faster. But, the sad truth for many is we never get to this list!
- Tool vendors: RevOps controls (or is a decision-maker for) bringing on new go-to-market tools.
Everyone is constantly asking for your attention across all channels. Do you find yourself unable to keep up with Slack, intimidated by your inbox, constantly behind on projects, or struggling to justify more headcount? This article is for you!
Read on for best practices RevOps pros can use to cut through the noise and focus your time.
How to protect your time (and attention)
We all know that focus is critical to driving projects that change the business. But there are so many things competing for your attention.
Here are six proven tactics to ensure you have the time to drive a greater impact.
Make resources finite
When your team’s time is seen as infinite by stakeholders, it negatively impacts all parties. It can cause you to juggle several projects when you only have the resources to complete one, miss deadlines, and get stuck dealing with last-minute fire drills.
There are three key ways to change the perception of your team’s time to finite–define your capacity, create a process, and engage stakeholders.
By taking these steps, you’ll be surprised at how your stakeholders will start advocating for more headcount for you instead of constantly reminding your team to finish their project!
Prioritize and force tradeoffs
You, not your stakeholders, should prioritize your backlog. Why? You have more context on the resources required to execute. If you handle the prioritization, you can catalyze discussions with your stakeholders and refine prioritization together. As stakeholders are forced to make tradeoffs, they will engage more deeply in prioritization.
Say no upfront
One of the key skills for RevOps success is saying “no” early. Use the techniques we just covered to explain why you can’t execute the project. Then, guide the requester to modify their ask in a way that increases its importance.
Engage stakeholders proactively
If you are reacting to requests, you are on the back foot from the beginning. Instead, make sure to align with your stakeholders proactively. Learn how to embed yourself in each stakeholder’s strategy through updates, a shared roadmap, and project management.
Time blocking
Control your schedule, so it doesn’t control you. With so many complex projects, it’s important to carve out time for deep work. This will keep you from working late every night!
Take back control of your attention
The flood of emails with asks from stakeholders and vendors overwhelms most RevOps people. I built Gated to stop this problem at the source–and it’s already making an incredible impact for RevOps teams.
What to do with all this time!?
If you put in place the tactics above, you’ll be blown away by the impact you can make, the support you get from aligned stakeholders, and the time you gain to think strategically. So what to do with all this time?
First, make sure you build an amazing RevOps machine to drive your company’s growth. Need a little guidance? Check out the complete handbook on RevOps I wrote. (I welcome feedback and input to keep making it a better resource!)
Here are a few other tips to try out that have helped me accelerate my career and grow my impact:
- Pop your head up and ensure you’re not just internally focused.
- Make the time to mindshare with other RevOps pros in communities like Wizards of Ops.
- Share your insights both through writing and speaking publicly.
- Engage with innovative vendors to learn about their tools and provide input on their roadmaps.
In Conclusion
I hope these tips have proven valuable, and you can take back control of your attention. Focus is the key to success and the best time to start is now!
Andy Mowat has spent his career building sales and marketing engines for leading companies like Upwork, Box, and Culture Amp. Like everyone, he’s always been overwhelmed by email. So he built Gated to fix email for both buyers AND sellers…. and to do some good for the world. Outside of work, Andy invests his time in advising early-career folks, going on adventures, and hanging out with his family.